


Kyyyalstaad Falls

by Lubamoon



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alice in Wonderland References, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Canonical Character Death, Dimension Travel, F/M, Hospitals, Lake House AU, Magical Realism, Painting, Planet Kashyyyk (Star Wars), Red thread, Rey Needs A Hug (Star Wars), Soulmates, Strangers to Lovers, Terminal Illnesses, The Force Is Replaced By Magic (Star Wars), Time Travel, Walks In The Woods, but here is a town, inspired by a song, inspired by moodboard, reylomarvellousmoodies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28105737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lubamoon/pseuds/Lubamoon
Summary: Two souls connected by destiny, a forest of legend and a cat that travels through time. Rey is about to change her life and someone else's, but she must let herself be carried away by the magical river of Kyyylastaad.written for #reylomarvellousmoodies event
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 7
Kudos: 6
Collections: Reylo Readers & Writers - The Marvellous Moodboard Event





	Kyyyalstaad Falls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [niennathegrey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/niennathegrey/gifts).



> I have fallen in love with this moodboard by [Bea](https://twitter.com/niennathegrey) and my mind turned it into a time travel. It will be a few short chapters, because due to time constraints I could not make the one shot I wanted.
> 
> I hope you like it and happy holidays to you all! It has been an unforgettable year in this fandom and I want to continue here, I toast to all the good things and loving people I have known. THANK YOU!
> 
> Here's a playlist I made for inspiration, especially the first theme of AURORA which is my favourite!:  
> [The River](http://open.spotify.com/user/an34ulo9l4jq48c9hf435wesp/playlist/7aaHrRi3qj3QAPFwmMdHSa)

_Rey_

_Coruscant / Kashyyyk_

_December 2020_

…

The young woman straightened her apron and saw in the reflection of a window that no strands of her brown hair had escaped her three-tailed hairstyle. She preferred to wear it loose but did not want to end up with the ends dyed in multiple colors, as she always did when she was carried away by the enthusiasm of her work.

She gently knocked on the door of Room 1612 at the _Mon Mothma Memorial Medical Center_ and returned with joy the smile of the older woman lying on the stretcher. She was already waiting for her with a bunch of brushes in one hand and a palette in the other, eager to start. Her work did not feel heavy when it was received with such satisfaction, even forgetting at times that she was dealing with patients who might never be cured.

Mrs. Kanata was one of her favorites, always enthusiastic to create. She had a story for every occasion and a descriptive capacity with the power to excite the imagination of the listener to the point of feeling that one lived inside her paintings. She liked to refer to herself as a kind of _Castleless Pirate Queen_ who helped people find their purpose in life. The many who once spent at least a few minutes listening to her or even had the opportunity to see one of her pictures could confirm the latter.

Her condition did not allow her to establish contact with many people, although she was not known to close relatives, had no children, much less grandchildren. She was like a loving and mischievous grandmother, all the nurses adored her for her happy sense of humor in an environment that provoked the opposite.

Short and damask-colored, she had so many wrinkles that you could barely see her eyes as two little brown dots amplified by thick glasses. An intelligent and perspicacious look confirmed the exceptionality of her character, and although it was difficult to establish her exact age, she assured that she did not forget anything of what she had experienced.

_"If you live a long time you can find the same look in different people"_

Perhaps the illness had made her fragile on the outside, but her spirit was immortal.

Rey Johnson knew this the day she entered Room 1612 and found it empty. The perfectly stretched sheet waiting for the next patient and Maz's paintings carefully wrapped in a corner. Her superior informed her that the patient had been moved to the intensive care area and that they would have to suspend the painting afternoons until the old woman regained her health, but they made no secret of the fact that there was little hope of that happening.

The certainty of the diagnosis did not spare her the sadness when the worst was confirmed a few days later.

She had visited Mrs. Kanata regularly for months, becoming attached to her for many more reasons than she dared to admit without breaking. Rey did not know her parents and although she was lucky with adoptive families, she never experienced the affection of a grandmother. The two women felt a special connection, perhaps because of the loneliness of their days and the freedom denied them, maybe because of the desire to find something else that would make sense of it all, something that the young woman had not yet discovered and that the old lady wanted her to achieve.

_"The belonging you are looking for is not behind you, it is ahead.”_

Somehow every phrase of her friend resonated in her mind now, as some kind of reminder that also helped her not to give up. The Kanata case was one of those in which the patient actively collaborates in making the professional feel better in an indirect way.

The impact of losing her was different from other cases. Being a therapeutic companion had prepared her, among others things, to face the delicate balance between life and death. She knew she was getting very involved with the old woman, but it was logical considering her brilliant personality. Rey enjoyed her work but sometimes felt the need to get away from it all, especially when a relationship was ending so abruptly.

Rey did not regret the stories or unfinished paintings, Maz was wise enough to leave her a better legacy. She showed her that even the unbelievable can happen if one is willing to look closely. She told her this with small gestures and large amounts of affection, with advice and complicit laughter that the young woman thanked with her heart.

And among all those things she also left her a marked direction, the promise to visit her hometown _Kashyyyk_ , a place that could well have escaped from one of her paintings. The old woman assured her on their last afternoon together that there she would find that which she longed for and that she would have to make an important decision, because to decide is to choose and to choose implies giving up something.

A vacation to be able to paint was not a bad idea. She could do it without a schedule or simply get lost among the trees and the murmur of the river, considering the idea of swimming a little. She was not afraid to travel without company, she was never bored with such a fertile imagination. She didn't think too much about it, she made the decision on an impulse and let herself be carried away by the emotion of doing something she had never done before, guided by the small jump of her heart and the pleasant vertigo in her stomach. Also by the fear of making a mistake, even when she had nothing to lose.

Her roommate Rose was happy about the news and promised to take care of the plants until she returned, even talking to them and playing music for them, as Rey used to do. She was worried that her friend was so lonely and secretly wished that she would meet some attractive mountain man to remember when she returned to her concrete jungle.

At the train station, Rey said goodbye to her with a hug, giving her word that she would return in less than a month when the leave was over. Rose stayed on the platform until the excited face of her friend at the window was lost from sight.

* * *

_Kashyyyk_ , the village lost among gigantic evergreen _wroshyr_ trees and the constant singing of thousands of birds, with narrow roads that no car could cross, was the perfect place for someone like Rey, who only knew a world of concrete and had the soul of a dryad.

Houses seemed to grow with the same logic of plants, emerging capriciously from the depths of the earth. Roofs and walls full of vines and flowers, as if human intervention was not able to modify the course of nature. The souls were concentrated in a comfortable villa in the clearing of the forest, in communion with the space and carefully respecting that their passage did not affect too much the geography of the place. 

None of its inhabitants could explain exactly when the first families arrived and many said everything was there from the beginning. The legend said the entire town was carved by the hands of ancient dwellers, _half human and half beast_ , who later disappeared when men exterminated them. The only sure thing were the traces of that ancestral magic that lasted in every sprout and in every animal, at the top of the magnificent forest and in the depths of the river that crossed it, the one that had its origin in the _Kyyyalstaad Falls_.

The different moments of the day were not perceived in the same way there because it was closer to the sun than any other place in the world and its rays reached the ground with the shades of millions of leaves, rocking in peace with a soft breeze since rarely a storm broke out. The passing of the seasons did not alter the landscape, as if all _Kashyyyk_ was under the influence of some kind of spell that made it immortal. At night, the sky formed a lacy blanket of luminous stars along with the tree dome, and even without public lighting, it could be seen clearly as if it were day.

Part of its charm came from its difficult access by air since very few people knew how to get there. The height and the cold discouraged most visitors and only the most intrepid or those who wanted to change their lives completely settled there. But there was a third reason why certain souls were attracted to that dream place and Rey would discover it soon. In _Kashyyyk_ there were certain threads that traveled through their path until their destination, regardless of space or time, interweaving certain souls beyond the limits of what is possible and magical.

Rey's belongings were few because she would spend only a short time there, and Rose had taken charge of assembling her luggage like the experienced traveler she was, not forgetting a swimsuit and some comfortable dresses. Everything was going wonderfully and smoothly, even the cloudless sky was tinged with her favorite blue color while the houses of the previous town were turning into little white dots on the green plateau. In her lap he carried a small wooden case that became a lectern, along with paints, brushes and several notebooks of white sheets.

The young woman glanced out of the barely opened window of the cableway to breathe the fresh air, recognizing in _Kashyyyk_ colors and light the feelings that permeated Maz's stories and had been engraved forever in her own soul, even when it was the first time she set foot in that place.

When she arrived at the house that was functioning as an inn, a woman with pink hair received her with fervor, because the appearance of someone new always generated curiosity, even more so if it was someone so young and alone. Amilyn Holdo was remotely related to Maz, so she was sincerely saddened to hear of her passing.

Once Amilyn explained some important issues of the place, she left Rey alone to take possession of what would be her room for the next few weeks. It was the low season and she would not cross paths with any other guests, so she told him they could have dinner together some evening if he accepted her company.

Rey sat down on the bed and for the first time felt strange, as if everything was so alien to her that she could not recognize herself in the acts that had led her there. She wondered in what way she would feel better although in her heart she knew the answer: Maz was guiding her, as if she were one of her characters in the stories, one of her golden-yellow flowers in a plot that had its own will because she longed to be free to feel part of something else, not to feel so alone.

_"Close your eyes. Feel it. The light... has always been there. It will guide you._

With her usual predisposition to good humor, Rey discarded sad thoughts and started to spread her modest clothes over the bed to hang them in the closet. It was still noon and the song of the birds invited her to go into the forest with the notebook to make some sketches and perhaps to check how true were the legends of that exquisite place.


End file.
